Norway asks FIFA to investigate Infantino and Trump

The Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) has moved to formally request that FIFA open an investigation into three sensitive matters involving Gianni Infantino and Donald Trump. The request, approved unanimously at an assembly held on 7 August, focuses on the rescinded red card shown to Folarin Balogun during the 2026 World Cup, the FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE) project and the peace award the governing body presented to the president of the United States.

The documents have already been sent to FIFA's Ethics Committee and Governance, Audit and Compliance Committee (GACC). The Norwegian federation frames the move as part of its long-standing work on governance and political neutrality in international football.

• The NFF has filed two formal requests with FIFA's Ethics Committee and GACC.
• It is calling for an investigation into the rescinded red card shown to Balogun, the FFE project and the peace award given to Trump.
• The decision was taken unanimously at the Norwegian federation's assembly on 7 August.
• Lise Klaveness is demanding transparency, accountability and corrective action if failures are found.
• The move coincides with reports about a possible World Cup exclusion for the Democratic Republic of Congo.

What exactly the Norwegian federation wants investigated

The first matter raised by the NFF is the decision to rescind the red card received by Folarin Balogun, the United States forward, before the match against Belgium. The Norwegian federation believes it must be clarified whether political intervention affected the independence of the disciplinary process surrounding the player during the 2026 World Cup.

The second point concerns the FIFA Forward Enterprise project, an initiative that, according to the Norwegian proposal, sought to commercialize externally the exploitation rights of FIFA competitions. The NFF wants to determine whether the project was created without consulting the body's members and whether required internal controls were respected.

The third front is the awarding of FIFA's peace prize to Donald Trump. For the Scandinavian federation, it is necessary to assess whether granting this prize was consistent with the political neutrality expected from the institution governing world football.

Infantino's role and the request to the Ethics Committee

The NFF has not limited itself to asking for generic explanations. The request sent to the Ethics Committee calls for an independent investigation into whether the conduct of FIFA president Gianni Infantino and other officials breached the organization's Code of Ethics. The inquiry sent to the GACC asks whether FIFA's decisions, oversight and internal controls functioned as required, or whether some governance failure allowed these three matters to occur.

We are not asking FIFA to reach a specific conclusion. We are asking FIFA's bodies to establish the facts and determine whether governance and control functioned as they should in matters of significant importance to world football.

The quote comes from Lise Klaveness, president of the NFF, and sums up the spirit of an initiative that is seeking answers rather than blame. Klaveness added that if failures are established, the Norwegian federation expects FIFA to ensure transparency, accountability and corrective action.

Lise Klaveness on FIFA's governance and neutrality

The NFF president links the three cases to a broader question about the exercise of authority in international football: whether FIFA's influence was improperly used and whether the controls designed to prevent that did their job. For Klaveness, football depends on trust in its institutions, and when serious questions arise they must be examined independently and transparently.

The Democratic Republic of Congo enters the debate

The Norwegian complaint came to light on the same day that The New York Times and Le Monde published investigations into a new area of controversy at the 2026 World Cup. According to these reports, FIFA should have excluded the Democratic Republic of Congo from the tournament because Lionel Mpasi was ineligible, having been investigated over nationality issues and possible passport fraud since November 2025.

The coincidence of both stories amplifies the debate over eligibility criteria and FIFA's oversight at football's biggest event, while strengthening the Norwegian argument about the need for an external review of the most controversial decisions.

Frequently asked questions about Norway's investigation request